This Morning in Metals: August Steel Import Market Share Hits 21%

This morning in metals news, the U.S.’s steel import market share was 21% last month, ArcelorMittal reached a provisional deal with the trade unions of Italy’s Ilva and the Bureau of Labor Statistics released U.S. employment data for August.

Steel Import Market Share

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) released its Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data for August this week, reporting that steel import market share hit 21% for the month.

Market share for the year to date sits at 24%, according to the SIMA report.

ArcelorMittal Reaches Deal with Ilva Unions

As part of its takeover bid of the Italian firm Ilva, ArcelorMittal reached a provisional agreement with Ilva’s trade unions, the Luxembourg-based firm announced.

According to the ArcelorMittal release announcing the provisional agreement, the terms need to be voted on by Ilva employees before being formally ratified.

“The agreement we have reached with Ilva’s unions meets the two major objectives we set out at the start of negotiations: to find an acceptable solution for every employee at Ilva; and to reach an agreement that reflects Ilva’s economic reality and provides a sound base for it to have a sustainable future,” said Geert Van Poelvoorde, CEO of ArcelorMittal Europe Flat Products, in a prepared statement. “I would like to thank the Minister of Economic Development for his support and also the union representatives with whom we engaged during these discussions. They are a very important stakeholder and we will work to maintain a positive and constructive dialogue with them in the future.”

One of the terms of the agreement includes an ArcelorMittal commitment “to initially hire 10,700 workers based on their existing contractual terms of employment.”

U.S. Unemployment Flat; Jobs Added in Mining

According to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics employment report, U.S. unemployment hit 3.9% in August, unchanged from the previous month.

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 201,000 last month. Mining was among the sectors seeing job gains last month, having added 6,000 jobs in August.